Retarding means.



c. w. PARKER.

RETARDING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1912.

l 9 177., 1 3%. Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

FI LJ'- WITNESSES:

. ATTORNEYS (FLARE W, PARKER, F FULTGN, NEW YORK, 01%,, Hi MIEENFE! ASSIGllMENTS',

J H. DUNN, 03E SFEKNGFIELD, MAQSAQHFJ'SETTS.

'nnranni Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Main fig, time).

Anplicatlon filed May 24, 1312. Serial No. 693,382.

To all whom it may concern: v

'Be it known. that I, CLARK 'W. Paulina, of Fulton, in the county of ()swego and State ofhl ew York, have invented a certain new and useful lletarding Means, of which the following is a specification.

' prises, generally, a body formed with a. piston chamber 2, a piston 3 movable 1n. the

, like characters This invention has for its object a retarding means which is particularly simple in construction, is highly eliicient in use, and is particularly applicaole to retard the en gaging action of the main or disk clutches-of motor vehicles, and the invention consists in the combinations and constructions here inafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention reference is had to theaccompanying drawing in which designate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sectional views, taken at a right angle to each other, of my retarding device.

This retarding device or dash pot coinpiston chamber, and means for actuating the piston including, a part carried by the body 1.

The body v1, in addition to the piston chamber 2, is also formed with a recess 4 on one side thereof, which opens into the piston chamber 2 with aslot-like entrance extending lengthwise of thepiston, chamber, theupper and lower walls of the recess di verging toward the chamber and the upper wall of the recess terminating" near the top of the chamber. The slot-like entrance of the recess thus extends from substantially the top of the pistonrchamber and is of a length materially greater than the length or diameter of the opposite or smaller end of the recess. Said body is also formed with a lay-pass 5 extending lengthwise thereof arid opening at 6 into the lower end of the piston chamber .2, and terminating short of the-top of the chamber, the bypass conveying the retarding fluid, as-oii, from the lowcr side, to the upper side,- of the piston during the downward movement thereof. The by loaSs is controlled by means of a needle valve 7 carried by the removable top plate 8 of the body 1, the needle valve extending through the top plate having its inner end enacting with the upper end of the by-pass 5, and 1ts upper end provided with a head or handie 9 by means of which thevalve can be adjusted to open or close the hy-pass,-inore or ess.

The body, as here shown, COlIAPI'iSES lZhB removable top plate 8 and a mainshell con stituting the bottom and side walls of the piston chamber and the inclosing walls of the recess l, and of the by-pass i3 and the additional icy-pass 12 presently described.

As, here shown, the needle valve is threaded at 10 and enacts with a threaded passage in the top plate 8, and is held in its adjusted position by means of a springpressed detent 11 mounted on the top plate and coacting with the notched periphery of the head 9. Usually the body .1 is also formed with an additional bypass 12 which communicates with the upper portion of the chamber 2, it being here shown as directly be neath the recess 4: and as opening at its upper end into thelower portion of the recess a and hence in open communication at all times with the upper portion of the piston chania biaClil; i l by which it may be secured, to any suitable support as the case of the trans mission gearing of a motor car.

The piston 3 is formed with a passage 15 therethrough for permitting the liquid to pass from one side, to the other, of the piston, the passage 15 being controlled by sp'ringpressedvalve 16 carried by the piston and held to its seat by a spring 1?, the valve 16 being arranged to close during the movement of the piston in one direction, as

downwardly, andtoopen against the action of" its spring-1? duri 'i'g'the movement of the piston upwardly, in order to permit the liquid to ilow freely from the upper side of the piston to the lower. i

The removable top plate Sis formed with an inlet ior'the retarding fluid, as oil,

and the chamber-53. isalso formed with an outlet at its lower end alined with the passage 6, the inlet and outlet being closed by plugs 19, 20 respectively.

The means for actuating the piston comprises a rock shaft 21 extending crosswise of the recess 4 and journaled in one of the side walls thereof near the smaller endor apex of the recess, the rock shaft being spaced apart from the piston chamber, and a rock arm 22 mounted on the rock shaft within the recess, the free end of the rock arm extending through the slot-like entrance of the recess into the chamber 2 and be ng connected to the piston by means of a link or links 23, and an intermediate portionof the rock arm being movable lengthwise of the slot-like entrance of the recess in the arc materially longer than the diameter of the smaller end of the recess.

The rock shaft 21 may be actuated in any suitable manner and is usually actuated by the foot lever of the motor vehicle, which lever usually controls the :ngagement of the friction or disk clutch of the vehicle. The retarding device here illustrated is arranged to retard the engaging action of the clutch by its spring in order to effect a certain sequence of movements or operations of the clutch.

In operation, the piston 3 is normally in its position near the lower end of the piston chamber 2 into which it has been drawn by the spring of the clutch of the vehicle. During the upward movement of the piston 3 from its position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which movement of the piston is effected by the foot pedal of the motor vehicle, the valve 16 opens so that the piston offers a minimum resistance. When, however,- the pedal is released and the main spring of the clutch of the vehicle tends to'throw the disks into engagement and to move the piston downwardly, the resistance at first is somewhatless than the maximum resistance, as both bypasses are open. During such downward movement of the piston, the clutch disks are ermitted by the retarding device to light y engage, and'subsequently the piston closes the port 13 of one by-pass, and a maximum resistance is offered to the piston in order that the disks of the clutch will be brought gradually into complete engagement. During the retarding action of the dash pot, the shiftable toothed parts of the transmission gearing will have been brought into complete engagement before the clutch disks have been completely engaged.

This retarding. device is particularly ad; vantageous in that stuffing boxes for the piston rods and other parts usually extending to the outside of a piston chamber are elimi-.

nated, and further in that adjustmentof the valve controlling the by-pass is readily effected.

What I claim isz I 1. In a retarding device and in combination, a body havingtherein a cylindrical piston chamber, a by-pass at one side of said chamber extending parallel therewith. for a portion of its length and communicating at end into the piston chamber a distance from the position reached by the lower face of the piston at the end of its downward stroke, a piston in the chamber, a rock shaft journaled in the body and extending across the recess,"an arm secured atone end .to said rock shaft, a link between the other end of the arm and the iston, and means for rocking the rock sha t, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. A retarding device comprising a body formed with a piston chamber, and with a recess atone side of one end of the chamber, walls of the recess diverging toward the chamber, one of said walls terminating substantially at the top of said end of the chamber, and said recess having a slot-like entrance into the chamber extending lengthwise thereof from substantially said top, a piston movable in the other end of the chamher, the body being also formed with-a bypass extending lengthwise of the chamber and having its lower end opening .into the lower end of the chamber and its upperend terminatin short of the top of the chamher, the b0 ybeing also formed with an additional by-pass extending lengthwise of the chamber and communicating at its upper end withthe lower portion of the recess, and having an opening extending into the chamber between the ends thereof in position to be closed by the piston when between its extreme positions, said body comprising a main shell constituting the bottom and side walls of the chamber and the inclosing walls of the recess and the by-passes, and a removable top plate, the piston being formed with a passage therethrough,- a spring-pressed valve for controlling the flow through the passage, said valve being opened by the pressure of the fluid when the piston is moved upwardly, and being closed when the piston is moved downwardly, a rock arm movable in the recess and having its free end extending through the slot-like entrance of the recess into the chamber, an intermediate portion of the rock arm being movable lengthwise of said entrance in an arc materially longer than the diameter of the smaller end of the recess, means for actuating the rock I incense arm, a link for connecting the piston aml the free end of the rock arm, anal a valve carried by the top plate and removable therewith, said valve extending through the top plate and having its innerend coacting with the upper end of the first-mentioned lay-pass, and its outer end providedwvith means for adjusting said valve, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 10 signed my'name, in the presence of two attestlng W1tnesses,-at Syracuse, 1n the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, this 17th day of April, 1912.

CLARK W. PARKER. Witnesses:

S. DAVIS, L, M. DAVIS, 

